The Power of One
by MadDogLucario96
Summary: Pokémon 2000 retelling. There is a prophecy on the island of Shamouti that tells of a Chosen One, that they will bring harmony when the world is imbalanced. When our heroes get swept up on the island, they will find their greatest adventure yet. Will they rise to the challenge? Collaboration with QUEENSPELLER67. Rated T for some language and suggestive material. AUTHOR'S NOTE!
1. Chapter 1

**I'm excited to announce the collaboration of one of my favorite Pokémon movies. I will tell you right now that we are talking about Troy's journey. It's not as easy as you think. We've got to sort some things about a few of the characters. I am collaborating with the writer who adopted my OCs: LEGAL-EAGLE53/QUEENSPELLER67.**

 **We've agreed to do a character guide and we're not listing the movie characters because that's obvious. Also, because the rewrite of the anime (featuring Troy) is in the works (and I haven't forgotten that. I just finished my Digimon story, Free As A Bird), the attire hasn't changed for the characters. Not in the Orange Islands, anyway. We have the characters and their ages.**

 **Queen/Legal: Troy's journey (the one he goes on before he meets Ash) will be on my profile. The anime rewrite (at least the Kanto episodes) will be on MDL96's profile.**

 **MDL96: I will be bringing back the Kanto journey story that I had deleted before. I had a little trouble figuring out the appropriate way to continue on with it but me and Queen will work together on that.**

 **Character guide:**

 **Ash Ketchum (age: 11)**

 **Misty Waterflower (age: 11)**

 **Troy Black (age: 19)**

 **Tracey Sketchit (age: 15)**

 **Expect some major changes as we rewrite each of the movies up until the Sinnoh saga. For now, enjoy our retelling of the Power of One.**

* * *

Deep in the heart of the Orange Archipelago, surrounding the island of Shamouti, are the three legendary islands that are home to the three great birds: Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno. The three islands, named after the type that is associated with each bird, are said to be the meeting place of the world's ocean currents. Each legendary bird acts as a counteraction to the other, maintaining harmony and balance in the world.

Nevertheless, there is a prophecy that warns against disturbing the harmony of these three islands.

 _Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice, or lightning_

 _Lest these titans reek destruction upon the world in which they clash_

 _Though the water's great guardian will arise to quell the fighting, alone its song will fail_

 _Thus the earth shall turn to ash._

 _O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three_

 _Their treasures combined tame the beast of the sea._

"Now it begins." A male voice mutters.

The face of the man belonging to the voice curves his mouth in an amused smile, like he will enjoy what is about to happen. The man's name is Lawrence. Lawrence III, after his father and grandfather. Lawrence is a man of quality and taste, having devoted his entire life's work to capturing and collecting rare Pokémon. Due to this obsession, he has amassed a great deal of wealth and is currently standing in his ship over the Orange Islands, on his way to the Shamouti area.

From first glance, Lawrence looks like a charming, articulate man with an easy smile, soft eyes, and dark blonde hair that looks almost green and an earring lying in each ear. Beneath this charming demeanor, however, lies a ruthless, driven man who will stop at nothing to achieve whatever goal lies in front of him. Ever since he collected his first Pokémon card, a Mew, Lawrence made it his mission to collect as many rare Pokémon as he could. While he certainly had quite a collection, he feels as though it would be incomplete without the titans of fire, ice, and lightning, but especially the beast of the sea. That is the prize he seeks.

As he reads the tablet underneath the glass case in front of him with the famed Chosen One prophecy, he hears an alarm go off. He snaps out from his thoughts in curiosity, wondering what could have caused the alarm to go off.

"Analysis indicates that the titan of fire referred to in the ancient inscription is the legendary Pokémon Moltres, believed to have originated in a remote region of the Orange Islands," a female computer voice speaks to him. Holograms of the three birds are shown as they are described. "The titan of lightning is the Pokémon, Zapdos, and Articuno is the titan of ice. Historical documents confirm that the three legendary Pokémon are unique species found in the vicinity of Shamouti Island."

Lawrence moves towards the chair in the center of the room and sits down. A map of the Shamouti Island area is displayed on the computer screen in front of him, highlighting the three surrounding islands in the respective color of the legendary Pokémon associated with the island. Fire Island is red, Lightning Island, yellow, and Ice Island is blue. Either of the three birds would make a fine addition to his collection but he has bigger fish to fry.

He moves a switch on the armrest upward, causing the chair to rise up into the ceiling, painted like the Sistine Chapel, and into the observation area of his ship.

"Which one is nearest?" He asks his computer.

"The fire Pokémon, Moltres." It replies.

Looking out the grand windows, he gets a view of the clear blue skies, sunshine, the miles and miles of ocean, and especially the islands that housed his targets. A chessboard is now displayed on the computer screen this time, showing Moltres where the king would usually be in a real game of chess.

Lawrence chuckles. "The chase is on."

At the bottom of the ship, shots were fired from the guns. The shots immediately freeze upon impact on the ground, making the island start to look like an iceberg. Underneath all of the ice, a flash of red made its presence known. Flame burst out of a cave and a flash of cream and red flies out of it. It is Moltres, the legendary fire Pokémon whose flame is used to light the Pokémon League torch.

Lawrence smiles as he sees the Pokémon flying towards the ship. He continued firing blasts to occupy Moltres. It dodges many blasts but is hit by several as well. Once he feels like he has Moltres weakened, Lawrence flips a switch opening the underbelly of the ship. Dark rings fly out from it towards the legendary Pokémon, who manages to dodge the initial wave that comes its way but is unable to dodge them all and is captured. With their mission accomplished, the rings return to the underbelly of the ship.

Lawrence smiles in accomplishment. Moltres now belongs to him. On the digital chessboard, the representation of Moltres disappears. Representations of Zapdos and Articuno then pop up on the board as he prepares for his greatest conquest.

"Bring together all three," he says to himself. "Their treasures combined tame the beast of the sea…Lugia."

* * *

On a bright, clear day, our heroes are navigating the Orange Islands by boat on their journey through the archipelago. Pikachu sits on the metal railing of the bow in front of the boat, looking out at the miles of ocean that stretched as far as the eye could see. Behind him, a Lucario is meditating on the floor. Lucario breathes quietly as he feels the balmy breezes blowing against him and hears the sounds of the ocean waves rocking the boat.

In front of the galley window sits Pokémon watcher, and new member of Ash's travel team, Tracey Sketchit. Tracey is sketching something in a notebook, possibly Pikachu and Lucario. As a Pokémon watcher, Tracey observes Pokémon and even sketches them in their natural environment. He is a quiet and reserved young man of fifteen, long dark green hair with a red sweatband around his forehead, a shirt of an equal shade of green, red cargo pants, and blue shoes. His eyes are a light brown and emit the quiet kindness that suits his personality.

At the back of the boat is the rest of Team Ketchum. The fiery, red-haired former gym leader of Cerulean City, Misty, who is looking out at the sea with a Togepi in her arms. Beside her is the leader of the group himself, Ash Ketchum, aspiring Pokémon Master. He also is looking out at the sea after having woke up from a short nap a short time ago. He stretches his arms as he lets out a yawn.

"It's a nice day," he says.

"It sure is beautiful," replies Misty as she turns to the Pokémon in her arms. "Right, Togepi?" She coos at it. Togepi replied back happily.

Light snoring can be heard from behind them. Ash turns to see the other member of their group, former Kanto champion and his mentor, Troy Black, still sleeping. Troy's long dark brown hair is sprawled across a makeshift pillow made from a pile of rope, his muscled, tattooed arms displayed in the sunlight due to the black tank top he wears. He also wears tan capris and grey Vans sneakers. A necklace with a symbol wraps around his neck and his silver wristwatch lays on his left wrist.

"Troy, wake up," he gently says as he shakes Troy to try and wake him up.

"Five more minutes, Mom," Troy moans as he moves to his other side. He ends up falling off the rope and hitting his head on the hard ground of the boat. He lets out an 'ow' in pain before sitting up and opening his eyes, which were a forest green. He gives Ash a dirty look that says 'how dare you interrupt my nap' while Misty giggles at his misfortune.

"Are we at the next island already?" he asks, thinking that was the reason why he was awoken. He shakes his head free of the metaphorical cobwebs in his head from the long nap.

"Not quite," replies Ash. "We will be soon though so I wanted to wake you up."

Upon hearing that explanation, Troy lays his head back down on the rope.

"Then I'm going back to sleep," he says, turning away from them and closing his eyes.

Ash gives Misty a mischievous look. She nods, knowing what he wants her to do. She takes out her Staryu's Poké Ball and releases the starfish Pokémon quietly.

"Staryu, use Water Gun on Troy," she whispers, giggling slightly at what was about to happen. Ash also cracks a grin, knowing that this was going to be funny.

Staryu does as commanded and blasts the stream of water towards Troy. He wakes up almost immediately and cries for Misty to stop the attack as he becomes drenched with water.

"Alright, I'm up! I'm up!"

"Ok, Staryu. That's enough." She smiles, returning it to its Poké Ball.

Troy stands up and glares at the two of them, water dripping from his hair and creating a dark spot on his clothing that looked like he had jumped into the water (which, if you asked Ash and Misty, would have been plan B if he had slept through Staryu's Water Gun). He puts his arms down on the side railing of the boat and looks out at the ocean with them.

"I'm getting old, kids," he groans. "I need my naps otherwise I get cranky."

Misty lays a hand on his broad shoulder. "Oh stop it," she chuckles. "You're only nineteen. You're not old."

"I'm older than you kids are," he points out. Despite his annoyance, a smile begins to work its way onto his handsome face. A chuckle soon escapes his lips as well. The three of them look to see Tracey begin to join them.

"Hey, Ash," he says. "Do you think we have enough time to give the Pokémon some fresh air?"

"Sure, Tracey," a female voice above them says. They all turn to see the boat's navigator, Maren. She was a beautiful young women with green hair that stuck out the front of her black backwards hat, wearing an orange and blue jacket, pants and a red t-shirt.

"It'll take about an hour to get to the next island," she explained. "There's plenty of time."

Hearing this, Ash immediately plucked a Poké Ball off of his belt and enlarged it with enthusiasm.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" he asks, before throwing it into the air.

Soon after, all the other Pokémon were either on the boat or in the sea. Ash wanted to bring out Charizard and Snorlax but they were too heavy for the boat so they had to be called back. Troy's Gengar was brought out and immediately starts doing everything to disrupt Lucario's meditation, including trying to scare him and poke him in the side. Lucario did everything in his power not to strangle the ghost Pokémon, even with a nerve bulging in his temple and his anger quickly rising. Ash's Squirtle even got in on the action by lightly "squirting" Lucario's face.

 _"Do that one more time and you're dead,"_ growls Lucario before settling back into his meditation.

Gengar mischievously grins at Squirtle, nodding approvingly for him to keep doing it. Squirtle flashes a thumbs up and this time lets loose a full-fledged Water Gun at Lucario. They both double over in laughter at their handiwork, ending up on their backs and tears flowing out of their eyes.

A growl interrupts their laughter. Gengar and Squirtle look to see Lucario's face turn completely red, despite his black and blue face. His red eyes were almost blood red now and his paws were clenched in fists, his teeth bared.

 _"You two are dead!"_ he roars. _"Come here!"_

 _"Run, Squirtle!"_ Gengar cries as he and Squirtle run to the back of the ship with Lucario tailing right behind them.

 _"Lucario's mad, Gengar!"_ Squirtle cries.

 _"I'm well aware of that, Squirtle."_ Gengar says before disappearing to try and escape his teammate's wrath. Squirtle looks around helplessly, realizing that he's alone now.

 _"Gengar!"_ He cries as Lucario rounds the corner and moves in for the kill. Troy thankfully comes to his rescue by stepping in front of Lucario.

"Lucario, that's enough," he says sternly. "Go back and meditate. They're just having fun."

 _"Yeah, at my expense,"_ Lucario protests but Troy cuts him off.

"I don't want to hear it, Lucario. Meditate, now."

Cursing under his breath, Lucario moves back to the bow of the ship so he can sit down and meditate again. He moves past Tracey's Marill, Venonat, and Scyther, who are enjoying the nice weather too.

Just as he is about to be comfortable, the sea quickly turns violent without warning. The sky turns dark and everyone is doing everything they can to keep themselves from falling off the boat. Ash and Misty recall their sea Pokémon while Tracey manages to recall Scyther and Venonat.

Maren does everything she can to keep the boat on course but even she is no match for the violent crashing of the waves. They soon find themselves pushed away from the island where they were supposed to be heading towards. After a few more agonizing and tense minutes, the sea finally calms down.

Seeing land ahead, Maren recognized it in a heartbeat.

"We're way off course," she says.

The other members of the party gasp in confusion.

"What do you mean we're off course?" Troy asks.

Maren points to the island up ahead.

"That's Shamouti," she replies. "We're right in the middle of the Orange Islands."

Guided by a large school of Magikarp, the boat made its way into the bay of Shamouti Island, where adventure seemed to be calling them. Little does the group suspect that this will be their greatest adventure yet.

* * *

 **So that is the end of chapter one. Work on chapter 2 is already commencing as we speak. Once again, this is a collaboration between myself and QUEENSPELLER67. Hope you guys are enjoying the story so far. Leave a review with your thoughts as the story progresses.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys. Sorry for taking so long to update but I started my junior year of college so I haven't had much time to write. Queen and I both have been busy but we are dedicated to keeping this story going. I appreciate all your reviews and constructive criticism, which I have taken to help make this story better.**

 **Enjoy this second chapter in a rewrite of Power of One.**

" **Normal speech"**

" _ **Pokémon speech"**_

' _ **Aura speech'**_

* * *

A flock of Pidgey flies over the quiet, rural town of Pallet in the Kanto region. The sun is shining and the humidity is just right for a summer day. For Mrs. Delia Ketchum, this is the perfect time for her to tend to her garden on the east side of her house.

While her trusty housemaid, Mr. Mime, is sweeping away any leaves that may have fallen onto the ground and any other things that collected on the ground, Delia is watering her vine of tomatoes. Despite being at the age of thirty and having an eleven year old son, she still looks like a young woman in her early twenties. She still gets men asking her out on dates but out of respect for Ash, she would decline them every time. She knows it must be hard for her son to not have his father around but she has done the best she can to raise him by herself.

The sound of tires skidding on the ground next to the white picket fence caught her attention. She turns to see Pallet Town's resident Pokémon expert, the esteemed Professor Samuel J. Oak, on top of his bicycle in front of the house. The old man is nearing his mid-sixties by now but still maintained a youthfulness to him that was irresistible. Delia has known the professor since she was a young girl and considers him a second father to her.

"Good morning, Delia," greets the professor.

"Oh good morning, Professor," she returns.

Oak looks at the blooming garden and smiles.

"Boy, you sure have a green thumb," he comments.

She giggles. "Well I've been getting a lot of help in my garden lately. The weather's been just perfect."

Dark clouds soon sweep in, blocking out the warm summer sun. Unbeknownst to Mrs. Ketchum, Mr. Mime went into the house to grab an umbrella and opens it up to hold over her. It seems that Mr. Mime knew what was going to happen because at that moment, a strong cell of rain poured down viciously. While Mrs. Ketchum was dry, poor Professor Oak is getting drenched to the bone. His lab coat is practically see-through with all the rain hitting it and he looks like he jumped in a swimming pool.

Suddenly, the rain stopped. Just as fast as it came in, it went out.

Before anyone can say anything, a flash of white passes before Delia's eyes. She thinks that it could just be the sunlight coming back until many more flashes of white fall before her.

 _'Is this…snow?'_ She thinks to herself. _'That can't be. It's the middle of summer. How can it snow?'_

The anomalies would not end there as the sky blew up with color in an aurora, which is especially odd because Pallet Town is nowhere near the Artic Circle. The two people cannot wrap their brains around what is happening. It is all too good to be true. Something must be happening somewhere to make the weather be this crazy…and one of the writers lives in a state where the weather is always crazy, regardless of the season.

Soon, the aurora and snow are gone and the sunny skies return. Confusion falls over them.

"Uh…did I just see what I think I saw?" Professor Oak asks, his jaw almost to the ground. "Or have the sixties started to catch up with me again?"

"That was rather odd," Delia agrees. "It's summer. How could it snow like that, and so briefly?"

A cry from Mr. Mime alerts them. They turn to see a whole group of Diglett charging down the road towards the house. They soon reach the ground under the professor's bike and continue to plow through, taking the bike with them. Professor Oak manages to jump onto the fence but the Diglett soon fade from sight with the bike.

"Fine! Take it!" He yells at them after being stunned for a few seconds.

Mr. Mime then became visibly upset, which disturbs Delia as well.

"Mr. Mime is upset about something," she says.

"Yes, so are the other Pokémon," Oak agrees with a nod. "Pokémon are more in tune with nature than we are. When something goes wrong, they can sense it. I fear something, somewhere, is going terribly wrong."

"What is it?"

Oak exhales through his nose and closes his eyes.

"I'm not sure, Delia. I have a feeling that we may just find out what it is soon."

* * *

On the beach of Shamouti Island, Ash and friends find themselves washed onto shore with the boat embedded in the sand. Thanks to the school of Magikarp guiding them in, they were spared from a hard wreck in the sand. While everybody else gathered their bearings to go ashore, Lucario notices Pikachu has a worried look on his face. Naturally, he decides to confront the little electric type about it.

 _"What's wrong?"_ he asks.

 _"Do you feel something off, Lucario?"_ Pikachu asks back. " _Like the world was just thrown out of balance? There is_ _ **no**_ _way that storm was a coincidence_."

Lucario nods.

 _"I feel it too,"_ he replies. _"All the answers will be revealed to us soon. I may have to meditate on this when we finally find a place to settle down."_

" _I don't have a good feeling about this,"_ says Pikachu, his gaze cast to the sky.

" _Neither do I."_

Not too far away from them, their trainers and their friends get off the boat. Troy got off first before assisting the others down to the sand below. Looking around, they see many Polynesian-style structures on the island as well as many palm trees.

"Can someone please tell me what just happened back there?" Troy demands. "One minute there is clear, beautiful weather and then the sky gets dark and the sea becomes rough."

"Island weather tends to be very unpredictable, Troy," replies Misty. "It may have been a tropical storm that we went through."

"There wasn't any rain though," he retorts. "Usually tropical storms bring heavy rain with them."

"Not always," she sighs, beginning to lose her patience with the oldest member of the group. "Sometimes it only includes the seas becoming rough and I think that is what happened. Besides, if we hadn't found this place, we could have been stranded out in the sea and in real trouble."

Troy is about to retort until a cry from Tracey stops him. It is a cry of fright, which startles the other three members of the group. He is so overcome with fright that he stutters his words.

"I…I think we still might be," he says, pointing a trembling finger towards the walkway above them.

The others follow his finger. Once they get a glimpse of what he sees, they too let out startled gasps. Standing on top of the walkway is a group of natives with big avian masks and spears in their hands. They jump down and surround the group. If they looked intimidating from afar, up close they were absolutely terrifying.

Troy could feel the goose bumps run up his arms as Ash and Misty cling to him, trying to hide behind him. Tracey looked like he was going to faint any second with his knees quivering like they were going to give out any second.

"Cannibals!" he cries in panic. "Troy, do something!" He is too stunned to move, shaking like a leaf.

Troy glares at him. "And what would you want me to do?" He demands.

Misty pushes him forward. "Be our peace negotiator," she says. "Surely you can talk us out of this."

"Wha…?" He tries to move back to them but they force him out and towards the group of "cannibals."

Troy is normally a very brave person but right now he is scared shitless. He doesn't know what is going to happen until one of the supposed cannibals speaks up.

"Maren, how are you?"

Troy is surprised to hear English coming from them. Looking to his left, he sees one remove their mask to reveal their identity.

That was when he started blushing.

Standing before him is a young woman about the same age as him if he had to take a guess. Light brown hair that almost looked garnet, light green eyes that sparkled like emeralds, and a cute face to top it off, Troy thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. She was looking directly at the captain of the boat.

' _Wow, she's cute._ ' Troy thinks as he continued to admire the young woman's features. She still had not noticed him yet. _'Cannibals, my behind._ '

She spoke again. "It's been a while."

"Carol, how are you?" Maren replied in greeting, happy to see a familiar face.

"What are you doing here on Shamouti Island?"

"The storm blew us in but it looks like we arrived just in time."

"You're right," nods Carol. "The annual legend festival starts today."

"This is my favorite island holiday," Maren then mimes playing a flute. "Are you going to be the star of the show again?"

Carol shakes her head. "No, I'm too old to be the festival maiden anymore. This year my little sister's going to take over for me," she explains before looking around the beach. "She should be around here somewhere."

"I'm right here," a bratty, female voice pierces the air. The entire group of people looks up at the walkway to see a younger, beret-wearing, sunglasses sporting version of Carol. She looks to be about thirteen or so with the same light brown hair being longer than her sister's.

"Only I'm not wearing some stupid costume," she scoffs. "Geez, after a few centuries, you'd think you'd outgrow this dorky ritual."

"It's our tradition," retorts Carol. "You should be honored to take part."

The girl shrugs it off with a wave of her hand. "Don't worry, I'll play my part in the big legend," she says before grumbling to herself, "I've only seen you do it like a zillion times."

With a roll of her eyes, Carol turns back to the group.

"Well unfortunately, that's my little sister," she explains. "Her name is Melody, but don't be fooled. She is not always this adorable."

Troy feels a wave of embarrassment overcome him when she finally makes eye contact with him. His face becomes so red that he has to turn away bashfully. Carol giggles in amusement.

"Hi," he says, stretching out his hand. "I'm Troy."

She gladly accepts the offer and shakes his hand. Troy could feel electricity go through his entire arm once her hand makes contact with his.

"Carol," she returns. "Nice to meet you. Say, haven't I seen you before?"

Troy groans internally. She probably knows who he is so he better play it cool before word gets out about him being on the island.

"Yeah, you probably have," he replies. "I used to be a famous Pokémon trainer."

He looks her over once more, trying not to make it obvious that he is doing that for fear of freaking her out. She's absolutely perfect in every way.

"So a former festival maiden huh?" He asks. "You're pretty enough that you can still do it in my book."

This time Carol is the one who blushes and giggles bashfully. "Thank you. But once you've turned 17, you're supposed to pass it down."

"What a pity," he returns with a suave tone, looking directly into her eyes.

Maren clears her throat to break up the conversation, for which Troy is thankful. Another minute and he would end up embarrassing himself in some way. Carol's eyes turn to look at Ash. She hums in curiosity.

"Who's this?" she asks.

Ash scratches his head nervously now that he is the center of attention.

"This is Ash Ketchum," says Maren. "He's a Pokémon trainer."

"Pokémon trainer?!" The entire group of islanders exclaimed in excitement. They soon whooped and danced in joy and celebration at this news.

"Can't help but wonder how they'd act knowing Misty is a gym leader," Troy says low enough for at least one person to hear, other than the redhead herself. She lets it slide for the time being.

One islander with a massive blue mask walks up to the group.

"The ancient legend foretells of your arrival," a gruff, male voice says. "And only with you can the guardian of the waters vanquish the titans of fire, ice, and lightning."

He lifts his mask to reveal his face to the group: one of a wise, old man with a big white beard on his face and rugged eyes that stared directly at Ash. Ash stepped back a bit at having his personal space invaded.

"In your hands, O Chosen One," he says. "In your hands rest the whole world and its fate."

"I…it does?" Ash stammers, finding this overwhelming to take.

"Grandfather!" Carol chastises. "You don't need to scare him before the ceremony."

The old man, now revealed to be Carol's grandfather, laughs a deep chuckle.

"I'm sorry, Carol. I can't help it," he says before turning back to Ash. "Don't let it worry you, kid. It's just for the tourists."

The beak of the mask covers his face once again.

"Blasted beak," he grumbles before pulling it back up. He notices the blushes on both Troy and his granddaughter's faces as they turn away from each other and smiles mischievously.

Melody makes her way down to the sand to get a better look at Ash. She studies each of his features after lifting her sunglasses.

"So you're a Pokémon trainer huh?" She asks, removing her sunglasses to reveal dark green eyes that are just like her sister's. "I guess you'll do. Here's your traditional welcome kiss."

She kisses Ash on the cheek. Ash's face erupts in a blush. Beside him, Misty is fuming with jealousy and anger.

Melody notices.

"Are you his little sister?" she asks.

Misty is offended at that comment. "I am not!" she denies.

Ash winces inwardly at that and only Troy detects the unease with the younger boy. He felt sorry for the young trainer and knew what it was like to be in his shoes.

"Well then you must be…" Melody stops to think about what to say before deciding on an idea. "His girlfriend."

Misty's blush grew even deeper until it was the same shade as her hair. "Eugh! Gross!" she reacts in disgust.

"Oh I don't think so," Melody smirks. "I'll be glad to play for him at the legend banquet, starts around eight. Oh and Misty, try not to be jealous."

Misty shakes with rage, ready to jump at this cocky bigmouth, but Troy holds her back.

"Cool it, Misty," he says. "Just let it go."

Melody then turns her attention to Troy.

"Yup, you definitely picked a winner, Carol," she smirks after studying him closely. "He's cute. I'm sure the two of you would make the perfect festival king and queen this year."

"Melody!" Carol's face turns even redder than before, as does Troy's.

"Y-you've got the wrong idea," Troy holds up his hands in a defensive gesture. "We're just going to take in the festivities until we can get back out to sea. Nothing more."

"Mmhm," Melody smirks while shaking her head, not buying his excuse one bit. "We'll see about that."

"We have found our Chosen One!" Carol and Melody's grandfather announces to the entire group of people there. They cheer joyfully in response. They begin to play a marching beat as they lead the new arrivals up the stairwell and off the beach.

Troy can't help but groan internally.

 _'What have we gotten ourselves into this time?'_ he wonders before catching himself staring at the back of Carol's head as she and Maren talk. He tries to look at something else before she notices, or anyone else for that matter.

Sadly for him, someone did notice.

Lucario felt this strange feeling coming from his trainer, something he had never felt before. He feels Troy's pheromone levels spike every time he looks at Carol, causing him to smirk.

 _'Troy, do you want to mate with her?'_ he asks.

Troy's face turns deep red and looks like his nose is about to bleed. He smacks Lucario upside the head.

"No!" he squeals in a high-pitched voice. "What makes you think that, Lucario? I barely even know her."

The jackal Pokémon's smirk grows wider. _'Your aura suggests that. I can read your thoughts.'_

Troy groans loudly as the group keeps walking.

"You keep that up, Lucario, and you won't be getting any meditation time," he threatens.

Lucario backs down. He needs his meditation so he does not want to risk losing it. Deciding he had teased his trainer enough, he sees Pikachu looking around nervously, obviously searching for the source of the bad feeling he felt.

' _I don't think we're marching into a normal celebration,'_ he thinks. _'There is an aura disturbance and I don't feel good about it.'_

* * *

 **Queen: please bear in mind that Hurricane Harvey has claimed lives. Hurricane Irma might be heading my way. Then there's Jose and Katia, but I don't know much about them yet. Sorry for the delay in this, but we will get this done.**

 **MDL96: Hope you guys all enjoyed that. Things are now starting to get interesting. There were some things that Queen and I both agreed did not make much sense in that section so we added them in. We also added in that fourth wall break because it seemed to fit.**

 **Be sure to keep reviewing and giving your thoughts on the story. They help a lot. See you guys next time. If you're in the hurricanes' paths, stay safe.**


	3. Chapter 3

**WE'RE BACK! Sorry for being gone for so long but Queen and I send our sincerest apologies for not updating for a while. Life caught up to both of us and we had some unexpected events happen. We are still committed to finishing this story to the very end. Updates will be a lot more frequent, I promise you.**

 **So to recap what has happened: Ash and friends end up on Shamouti Island just as they are about to start their annual legend festival. Troy seems to be getting quite friendly with one of the local girls, the former festival maiden Carol, and Pikachu and Lucario are unsure of what is going on around these events.**

 **Hope you guys enjoy this new installment.**

* * *

' _Man. She is beautiful._ '

Troy helped himself to the plate of food in front of him. The food was not the only thing on his mind though; he would sneak glances at Carol, who was at the table to the left of him and his companions. She occasionally felt his gaze on her and would turn to look at him, but he would turn away every time, his cheeks turning a light pink in the process. Lucario's words echoed through his mind.

' _Troy, do you want to mate with her? Your aura suggests so.'_

Trying to take his mind off of what Lucario said, Troy tried to focus on the food and have a good time. The entire island was turned into a gigantic party with parades going on in town and all the food stands that you could think of. The group, though, was far away from the scene in a mess hall just outside of town where Ash would receive the Chosen One's initiation. Troy could've easily sat at the adults' table, if you will, with Maren, Carol and her grandfather, but there were a few other native islanders there. Melody was at another table eating a little bit with some of the elders of the island. No. It would've been too tempting. He liked sitting with his friends more.

"And she said, 'No but I do have Krabbies,'" Maren's voice came followed by the sound of laughter at the table she shared with Carol and her grandfather.

Carol grabbed some of her drink. Had it been that long since she last caught up with Maren? She remembered that her slightly younger friend was going on a family cruise to another region. Carol couldn't think of Maren's parents having any sense of inappropriate humor. Then again, there's the swearing like a sailor bit.…and Maren must've been very skilled. To operate a boat the size of the one she arrived in, one had to have a license and had to be 15, which was around the age one could apply for a driver's license in the Kanto and Johto regions. Most sailors that Carol knew didn't get their licenses until they were around 20. She was happy for her friend, though.

"Carol? Did you doze off with your eyes open?" another island elder asked. This elder had been walking around with a cane.

Carol shook her head. "What? Oh. Sorry, Grandpa, Maren. Grandma, you remember Maren, don't you?" Troy's eyes widened slightly as he watched the elder lightly whack Carol in the leg with the cane.

"Do Butterfree fly?" she asked.

Carol nodded and Melody snickered at her sister's expense.

"Melody, I'd watch it if I were you. You're supposed to be on your best behavior as a festival maiden, young lady," the elder next to her said.

"Repeat yourself, Maren," Tobias (Carol and Melody's grandfather) said.

Maren nodded. "How have you been since the breakup? I've been traveling the Orange Islands at my uncle's request. My cousin is pretty hyper and wanted to come with me but couldn't. I promised I'd have a story to tell," she said, turning to her friend.

Troy raised an eyebrow. Someone broke up with Carol?

Carol sighed. "I've been hanging in there. I should've seen it coming, though."

Maren gave a sympathetic smile and whispered in her friend's ear, causing her to laugh again.

"Maren," Carol's grandmother began, "What did you just say to Carol?"

Before Maren could defend herself, Tobias spoke. "Bah, I wouldn't get on them too much, Brooke my dear. As long as Carol can focus on the festivities, that gives us one less thing to worry about."

Troy once again looked over at the table. He thought Carol had the most beautiful laugh that he had ever heard, sounding like sweet music to his ears. A smile slowly crept onto his face and his eyes shimmered with admiration. Unfortunately for him, Lucario broke his meditation from a few feet away to smirk.

' _If you want to mate with her, then just approach her about it,_ ' said Lucario. Everyone else heard Lucario's name in syllables. Well, just those in range. Ash looked at Lucario but said nothing.

Troy's enamored face quickly devolved into an annoyed one as he took a bite out of a pear.

"You will do right to shut your mouth, Lucario," he growled. "I don't want to talk about this anymore with you."

' _I'm just trying to help you, Troy,'_ Lucario rationalized. ' _I know you have strong feelings for this female. These feelings that you are experiencing are ones I have never felt come from you before except for the few times that..._ ' Lucario began and if Troy didn't speak up, well, things could escalate.

Troy blushed a darker shade of red, knowing where Lucario was going with this. "Ok, we are stopping right there," he interrupted. "I'm not getting into that. That is my business and my business alone, Lucario, and you will treat it with the respect it deserves."

' _Not like it's a big secret,_ ' Lucario chuckled in a singsong voice.

"Get out of here," Troy threw a grape at the Pokémon, who in turn gave a crude gesture. Luckily, the others were focused on their food and drinks to really care about what was going on. Pikachu looked at Lucario and then at Ash, squeaking to him to tell him what went on.

Troy did his best to stay cool. To his left, he could hear Carol chuckling at him and Lucario. He didn't know what else to do other than wave nervously as their eyes made contact, giving a nervous smile as well.

"I guess you and Lucario are really close. Troy, y'know if there's something on your mind, you can just tell us," Ash said innocently. This coming from a kid who defended his Pikachu against a flock of Spearow and after the mighty blast suffered some serious wounds. Troy gave Ash credit, though. Ash seemed to be getting his memories back and was slowly growing as a trainer.

"Nah, it's nothing you need to worry about," he quickly replied. "It's adult stuff, kid."

To his right, Misty grumbled lowly as she stuffed her face with a meatball on a stick.

"Me, Ash's girlfriend," she said. "It's completely ridiculous."

"Don't let it get you down, Misty," Troy tried to reason with the hot-tempered red head. "She was just trying to mess with you."

She shot him a glare. "Well that's easy for you to say, Mr. Hotshot Champion," she retorted. "You're used to dealing with that stuff all the time."

At the head of the table, Ash bounced around excitedly as he waited for the ceremony to begin. He was squirming in his chair so much that Troy almost worried that he may have to go to the bathroom.

"I wonder what my part in the big legend ceremony is going to be," he said, excitement drenched in every word.

They didn't have to wait long as the first notes of a flute reached their ears. They turned to the stage at the back of the hall and saw Melody dressed in a pure white gown and a veil draped over her pretty face, playing a gorgeous tune that captured everyone's attention. All eyes were on the young teenager as she danced and swayed in tune with the music.

"That's the girl we met on the beach," Tracey exclaimed, recognizing her immediately. "What was her name again?"

"Melody." Troy replied.

"Melody." Ash distantly echoed, completely engaged in the performance in front of him. Misty noticed a small blush starting to work its way on his cheeks. She puffed out hers in anger.

"She's a big show off," she huffed.

Just after she finished that sentence, the song drifted away. Melody came swooping down to their table as applause filled the entire hall.

"Hear ye all," she recited, getting close to Ash until she was practically in his face. "From the trio of islands, ancient spheres shall you take for between life and death all the difference you'll make."

She grabbed his hand before she could say the rest of her lines, causing Misty to get even more infuriated. Troy feared she was about to become a human Krakatoa if he didn't do something.

"Oh, Chosen One, you must climb to the shrine to right what is wrong and the world will be healed by the guardian's song."

Just as it looked like Misty was going to give her a piece of her mind, Troy saw his opportunity to step in and defuse the situation. Quickly pulling her under the table, he spoke quietly so that nobody else heard.

"Could you please try and stay cool for tonight?" He whispered harshly. "I'm not in the mood for one of your jealous rages right now."

"Well what am I supposed to do? Just take it?" She shot back.

"For tonight, yes."

As the two came back up to the top, Melody was about to give her explanation to Ash about what he had to do to fulfill the duties of the Chosen One. He didn't quite understand what she meant when she made that big speech a second ago.

"It won't be very hard, Ash. Not for you anyway," said Melody, snickering before she resumed. "Besides, almost all the chosen ones come back alive."

"You didn't have to tell him that, Melody!" Carol chastised, aghast at her words.

Melody simply shrugged her sister off before sitting down beside Ash. As she prepared to give him the full details, she grabbed various fruits from the bowl in front of them.

"All you have to do is get these glass balls from three islands," she explained, placing each fruit individually into his hands as she named them off. "One from Fire Island, one from Ice Island, and one from Lightning Island. Then you bring them to the shrine back here. I then celebrate by playing this song," she played a few notes on the flute to illustrate her point. "And then it's over, o Chosen One."

Tracey and Troy looked at each other.

"What's going on?" Tracey mouthed, glancing over at Misty.

"You don't wanna know," Troy copied before returning to the conversation at hand. Tracey shrugged and dropped it, thinking that it was something between him and Misty.

"Do I get to wear a cool costume?" Ash asked, getting even more excited than he was before.

Melody shook her head. "Nope, it's just come as you are," she said before grabbing a pear out of his hands and taking a bite out of it. "Besides, you look perfect to me. The handsomest Chosen One in years."

She then turned her attention to Troy, who did not like the look that she was giving him.

"Speaking of handsome, I think your friend here would be perfect to take care of my sister," she smirked. "She needs someone who will value her since she just ended a relationship."

Troy and Carol both blushed in embarrassment for what felt like the thousandth time that day.

"Melody, that's enough," Carol stood out of her seat. "I don't need you playing matchmaker for me. I can do that by myself just fine. Ever since that relationship ended, which mind you was my choice because he decided to cheat on me, you've been asking guy after guy to talk to me. I'm able to talk for myself. Did it cross your mind that in these past three weeks that maybe I don't want another relationship? That I've got issues now because he had to do that to me? That my heart still hurts from cutting him out of my life even though he was in the wrong?"

Not only had Carol stood up, but she had gotten on the side of the table. Tobias and Brooke maintained stoic expressions, knowing only to get in the middle of their granddaughters bickering if need be.

"I'm just trying to help you out, sis," Melody raised her hands defensively. "It's not every day you get a cute guy like him on this island."

"Well stop it, Melody. I swear that if you try to set me up with another guy with my heart still being broken, I will not hesitate to stop talking to you. You wonder why Dad grounded you so much when you were younger? Or why Mom would give you an earful? Maybe today's actions up to this point will teach you a thing or two!"

By this point, Troy was genuinely worried for her as a person. He could see that Carol was within perfect distance to lunge at her sister. And he thought Misty and her sisters were bad. Well, these two might have just topped them. Her face was slightly red, likely due to a combination of pain, distress and other female emotions if he had to make a wild guess on the matter and for some reason he couldn't figure out. Troy thought he saw tears pricking Carol's eyes.

The dining area had grown silent.

"Carol, I,"

"Save it!"

And that was the match to light the fuse. Carol snapped at her sister and knocked down her chair, appalling some of the elders as she stormed off. Tobias saw the tears begin to fall in his granddaughter's eyes before she stormed off.

Maren thanked the island guardians for her timing. She wiped her mouth with a napkin before picking the chair up.

"I was going to apologize," Melody said to Maren. Maren just shook her head. Melody had gone too far.

Maren just stood there before saying, "I'll go talk to her," and leaving.

Troy wanted to slump out of his seat and crawl out of the hall while he still had a chance. This was completely embarrassing for him and looking at Carol, before she stormed off, did not help make things any easier.

Hearing kissing sounds behind him, he turned to see Lucario puckering his maw and blowing kisses to him. That was the final straw for Troy as he shoved an apple into Lucario's maw in order to shut him up.

"Go kiss that, why don't you?" He growled.

A cry of excitement cast the storm cloud hanging over Troy away.

"Alright! Get me a boat and I'm ready!" Ash said as he jumped out of his seat, ready for action at a moment's notice.

Melody did not seem like she was expecting it as she tried to coax him back down.

"Relax, you'll have all day tomorrow," she said as she ushered him back down. "Tonight's just for the party. Stay, have some fun."

Ash was not having it, no matter how persuasive Melody tried to be. He was already pumped up for adventure and it was impossible to talk him out of something when he set his mind to it.

"Well some things are more important than fun," he said. "I'm Ash, the Chosen One. This is serious. I've got to be responsible."

Troy barely stifled a snort while Tracey chuckled quietly. Ash glared at the two of them while Misty muttered to herself: "That's a switch."

"You know what, I like your attitude," Maren got up from the adults' table and walked over to the group's. "We can take my boat, Ash."

Ash felt the adrenaline surge through him as he clenched his hand into a fist.

"Then let's go," he said, turning to Misty. "You coming, Misty?"

"No thanks," she snapped, stuffing another piece of pizza into her face. "If you want somebody to do whatever you want, whenever you want, you should find yourself a girlfriend."

Tracey pulled Troy over so that he could whisper into his ear.

"Geez, what's gotten into her?" He asked.

"I dunno, Tracey," Troy replied. "She must be on her period or something."

"Then she's probably on it all the time."

The two snickered in amusement until out of nowhere, Misty came in with her mallet and gave Troy a whack across the face. He grabbed his cheek as he crashed to the floor, nothing broken thankfully but it still hurt like hell.

"Yeah. I probably deserved that," he chuckled.

While everybody else recovered from the shock of what just happened, Pikachu took off running without warning with Ash's hat in his mouth. Turning away from Misty's display of outrage, Ash chased after his Pokémon. Lucario followed him and Troy got up from the floor to go after Lucario. Maren made up the tail end of the group, carrying the keys to her boat.

Maren wasn't disagreeing with Melody on Troy's good looks, but she also knew that Troy seemed like the type of guy who cared. She quietly approached him and tapped him. He stopped his miniature match with Lucario and she nodded them off to the side, trying to signal that she wanted to talk with Troy one on one. "Troy, I want to tell you something before we go off. It's tradition that the festival maiden stay at Shamouti Island with the others. I've been friends with Carol for a long time and I know that Melody loves to push her sister's buttons."

Troy held back whatever negativity was building up inside of him. "Yeah, I figured," was his reply.

"You oughta know how that feels," she said.

He shrugged. "I'm an only child," was his reply.

Maren decided not to tell Troy how Carol felt about him. She'd let that unfold on its own.

She nodded. "I am, too. My cousins are mostly guys, so they're all like brothers to me. Carol and Melody are like the sisters I never got. Carol is seven months older than me and Melody is around Ash and my cousin's age," she replied. In the time they had been traveling together, Ash and Misty had become like younger siblings to him. If younger siblings were supposed to be annoying most of the time but supportive anyway, then he knew how it felt to have them.

"Yeah, I know what you mean now. Aren't you worried about Ash taking off with your boat?"

Maren chuckled. "He'd have to push it," she said with a smile. "I've got the keys."

There was a pause. Troy was trying to figure out how he wanted to word this.

"Don't worry," she gave him a nudge on the shoulder. "Carol should be all right and she won't hold a grudge with Melody for the remainder of the festival. Give her the silent treatment for the duration is more likely. If she's still holding a grudge, then I'd be worried. In the years I've known her, Carol has never held a grudge for more than 60 hours."

60 hours?! "That's a long time," Troy mused.

"Actually, it's two days and 12 hours. We should probably go before Ash hurts himself," Maren replied and Troy nodded.

Lucario protecting Togepi and looking after Pikachu on the occasion were two things, but Lucario looking after Ash was another.

The two made their way to the boat.

Above them, storm clouds began to gather in an ominous display of impending danger. Troy did not have a good feeling about this goose chase that they had been sent on, thinking that it not only would be jeopardizing his own safety but Ash and Maren's as well. He didn't really care much about himself as he did Ash but he didn't want to be stranded out in a dangerous storm.

' _What is going on with Pikachu and Lucario since we got here?'_ He wondered. ' _I sure hope we're prepared for what will happen.'_

* * *

Out in the bay, a ruined Magikarp submarine pattered along in the water. Two people and a Meowth were continuing to pedal despite their legs feeling like dead weight at the moment. The two humans were signified by the big red 'R' on the chest of their white shirts as members of the infamous Team Rocket crime syndicate.

What started as an ordinary day of following Ash and the gang, or the "twerps" as they were referred to as, turned into a bad one for Jessie and James as they got caught up in a giant school of Magikarp and crashed into the side of an island cliff.

"Our ship is ruined," Jessie cried, gasping for air as her legs protested loudly over having to keep peddling the ruined sub.

"I'm sick over it," James echoed.

"I'm sea sick over it," came Meowth.

Before they could complain anymore, a boat breezed by the three villains, capsizing what was left of their sub and sending them into the water. Before they were pushed in, however, they got a good look at the occupants of the boat: Pikachu and Lucario were up at the front of the ship while Ash, Troy, and Maren all were up on the captain's deck.

"Was that…" James began before Jessie chimed in.

"The twerp and the champion twerp," She said.

"And Pikachu and Lucario too," Meowth finished.

"I wonder where they could be going in such a hurry," James wondered as his mind drifted off.

"Well let's get back to shore and grab a boat of our own so we can find out," Jessie ordered as rain began to pour down on top of them. It seemed like their bad luck just continued to come through for them every single time.

"Well, we's can say that a little rain never hurt nobody," Meowth smiled, earning nervous chuckles from his two companions as a giant wave overwhelmed them.

* * *

As the storm began to rage on, in a cool, dry cave a Slowking watched the lightning flash in the sky and listened as the thunder crashed. It shook its head as these events went on.

"Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice, and lightning," it said, somehow having the ability to speak human. It sighed.

"What a mess."

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 **Things seem like they are bound to get pretty bad by this point. What will happen next with our heroes? Will they make it to the islands safe and sound or be stranded out in the sea? Find out next time on The Power of One.**

 **Hope you guys all enjoyed that, especially since Queen and I wanted to add some more background to the story. It'll be interesting to see where Troy and Carol go from this point. Be sure to leave a review and subscribe as you read. Things are just now getting interesting so you'll want to stick around.**


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